Claro Walnut Bowl

I wanted to post a few photos of the claro walnut bowl I've been working on. After lots of sanding, a few coats of Antique Oil finish, and a buffing of steel wool, the bowl is finally finished. Super smooth and ready to display. Looking forward to getting started on my next bowl.

Claro walnut bowl. Overall dimensions around about 5.5" wide and 3" tall.

Claro walnut bowl finished with Antique Oil finish.

Claro walnut bowl. Very cool swirling grain patterns.

My first bowls on the lathe

Before I even got into wood turning, there were a few projects that I was anxious to try. Turning pens (check!), turning wine bottle stoppers (check!) and finally turning bowls (check!)

The process of turning a bowl is completely different from pens, razors, wine stoppers, etc. Takes a bit more time, a bit more control and a few more tools.

The first attempt at a bowl didn't even make it to the lathe. I decided not to pre-drill my holes to mount the face plate to the chunk of wood and had a screw break off in the wood. So I threw the piece away. No need to have a chunk of metal in the wood waiting for a tool to hit it.

My second attempt resulted in a DOH! moment when the screws I used to mount the face plate were too long and I ended up having 4 nice holes in the bottom of my bowl that I just couldn't carve away.

While they may not win any awards, my first few attempts have made me proud. Really excited to keep at it and continue to learn and experiment. Below are a few of my firsts that actually turned out well enough to consider a finished project.

My first successful bowl that I turned from a piece of curly maple I had laying around the shop.

The above photos shows a blank of claro walnut that I rounded off on the bandsaw before mounting on a face plate. Easier to get it somewhat round before trying to turn it.

Same claro walnut bowl blank after turning the outside and bottom. Sanded down a bit and ready to flip around and carve out the inside. This one will still need a good bit of sanding to smooth out.

My first try and turning "green wood" from my firewood pile. This was a small oak log that was split and ready to burn. I kept the live edge (bark) and turned it down to about 3/4" thickness before putting away to dry for a few months. Need to let the moisture content drop down before turning to final dimensions and sanding.

Some wine bottle stoppers

I haven't ever run into this problem, but I hear it happens. Let's say you open a bottle of wine and can't finish it (gasp!) What does one do? Well, you could put the original cork back in, but that would be so passe. How about adorn the top of your bottle with a custom hand turned wine bottle stopper? Great idea.

I have turned a few of these and use chrome bottle stoppers with two silicone rings to get a nice air-tight seal. They are fun to make and allow me to experiment with different shapes and wood combinations. I have also started lining them up on my mantle piece as nicknacks. Plenty of folks comment on their resemblance to chess pieces. I have no interest at this point on making chess sets.

A few of the wine bottle stoppers I turned on my lathe. Different wood species and shapes. Notice the top two stoppers have the hardware attached. The bottom (rosewood) version doesn't have the chrome piece installed.

I played around with laminating a strip of maple in between two pieces of sapele for a pinstripe effect. These do not have the chrome hardware installed. Just playing around with shapes. They are drilled out on the bottoms so that I can add in the hardware later.

Here is a small maple bowl I turned with a collection of wine bottle stoppers thrown in.